Italian Houses
Houses
A 16th-century Italian house, restored to a glorious state by Maria Speake of Retrouvius
Hoping that behind the cement render there was a 16th-century gem, the owners of this house in Umbria set to work restoring its architecture, before calling in Maria Speake of Retrouvius to transform the interiors with her use of salvaged materials and antiques
Traditional Houses
Life in an art-filled former palace in Italy, accessible only by foot
In an ancient Italian town perched on a rocky outcrop and accessible only by foot, Paolo Crepet and Cristiana Melis, the residents of an art-filled former palace, have created a guesthouse that is truly one of a kind
Houses
Glorious Tuscan country houses that will have you wanting to move there
Tuscany has long been one of the most covetable areas to live in all of Italy. We've gathered five beautiful restoration projects from our archive that show just how spectacular a house here can be
Houses
A once-dilapidated wreck in the glorious Tuscan countryside brought beautifully back to life
After years of renting houses for family holidays, Shiro Muchiri decided to establish a more permanent base in Tuscany and, by combining two dilapidated dwellings on a sprawling estate, has created a harmonious home worthy of its spectacular setting
Country
The Tuscan monastery of sculptor Emily Young
In a former monastery on a hilltop in southern Tuscany, the residence and studio of British sculptor Emily Young is the ideal setting for her stone carved heads and figures, each telling a story of their own.
Uplifting stories for difficult times
A mother & daughter's restoration of a 16th-century Tuscan convent
A mother-and-daughter design duo has taken an unconventional approach to the conversion of a sixteenth-century convent in Tuscany, filling the rooms with objects and artworks of their own making.
Italian Houses
Camilla Guinness' romantic villa in the hills of Tuscany
In an extract from Robyn Lea's new book 'A Room of Her Own', we explore Arniano, a charming Tuscan house belonging to Camilla Guinness and her daughters Amber and Claudia
Houses
A fashion designer lets his imagination run wild in a 16th-century Italian villa
After living in Milan for five years, British fashion designer Ashley Fletcher fell for a 16th-century villa in Piedmont. This has become a creative playground, where he has allowed his imagination to run wild with remarkable results
Houses
Christmas with Skye McAlpine in a romantic Venetian palazzo
The food writer and tableware designer usually spends Christmas in her apartment in a 17th-century palazzo in Venice, where we visited her for a special festive edition of Design Notes
Italian Houses
A Florentine villa grounded in a love of collecting and respect for tradition
On a hillside in Florence, the villa that the Caponi family has lived in for 50 years tells a story that spans three generations and contains beautiful antiques and artworks collected over a lifetime.
home tour
An Italian diplomat’s contemporary pied-à-terre in Rome
Amid contemporary design, artwork and travel treasures, architecture firm 02A transformed a Roman apartment in an early 20th-century mansion into a museum-like city pied-à-terre
Decoration
Inside Nicolò Castellini Baldessera’s sumptuous Milan apartment
In this extract from Inside Milan, Nicolò Castellini Baldiserra discusses how the Milanese bring beauty to an otherwise functional, industrial city – and how he did the same to his apartment
Italian Houses
A captivating farmhouse in the Tuscan countryside
It took the owners years to find this stone farmhouse in Tuscany and even longer to get permission for the renovation that they had in mind – but it was certainly worth the wait
Favourite Italian houses from the Cabana Magazine archives
A beloved grandmother's home where every room is like a museum
"Everything is like a museum, but at the same time liveable, touchable, reachable: to be lived and experienced. This is the great, unfathomable beauty of this house."
Italian Houses
A palazzo on Venice's Grand Canal decorated by Jacques Grange
Between them, Giovanni and Servane Giol run a prestigious Venetian music conservatory, have set up a theatre school and embarked on two conservation projects that showcase the skills of local artisans
Country
The late architect Bruno Sacchi's medieval tower in Florence
Jane Sacchi recounts the experience of updating a twelfth-century tower in Italy, originally restored by her architect husband Bruno in the Seventies
Favourite Italian houses from the Cabana Magazine archives
A gloriously comfortable country house on the Piedmont hill
This country house on the Piedmont hill has one of the best gardens ever designed by Russell Page.
Italian Houses
An architect's strikingly modern take on traditional Puglian architecture
When a plot of land in a Puglian village came up for sale, it offered an exciting opportunity for an Italian architect to create a contemporary courtyard enclave for his family – complete with a tower – as a bold but respectful nod to the region’s past
Country
A grand, decaying Sicilian house undergoes a remarkable restoration
After a five-year search for a property in Sicily, Jon Moslet and Marco Scire discovered the abandoned Rocca delle Tre Contrade on the east coast, and set about turning it into the welcoming and relaxing holiday home it is today
Favourite Italian houses from the Cabana Magazine archives
New life breathed in to an extraordinary castle in Maremma
The castle of Castagneto Carducci, an astounding piece of history, is situated atop a hill in the historical region of Maremma. It still dominates the village that has grown up around it. Over the past 20 years Manfredi della Gheradesca, a renowned London-based art consultant and interior designer, has breathed new life into the family castle. With ease and confidence, he has built a collection of furnishings that look as though they might have always been there.